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Range pick up brass...

5K views 25 replies 18 participants last post by  LDBennett 
#1 ·
I know there are plenty of people that don't agree with using brass picked up off the range. I'm one of those. But, here's my question. I shoot alot of handgun loads at the range and there are tons of brass everywhere. I don't shoot competition. What would be the downside of me reloading picked up brass just for hording? Just for "the end times" scenario. If I cleaned, inspected, culled the bad and reloaded these cases, what would be bad about that.

I'm just searching for answers to questions and truly don't know which way to go with this. Your opinion is appreciated.

And, don't start throwing rocks at each other because of differing opinions.

thanks,

kevin
 
#2 ·
what's wrong with range brass? It's about all I ever use!

rifle I get a bit picky but pistol I will scrounge everything. probably 99% of my brass came off the floor of an indoor range.

been loading and shooting it for over 15 years with only a handful of cracked cases.
 
#3 ·
And see, aa, all I ever hear is NOT to use range brass. Reasons from you don't know how many times they've been fired to don't use brass from different manufacturers in the same batch. Maybe because I'm not competition shooting and that's the group that doesn't support picked up brass.
 
#4 ·
I have no problems picking up range brass, clean and inspect thoroughly no problems. There are some exceptions that require special attention such as .40 which require debulging.
 
#5 ·
As long as you inspect the brass, and you're not doing olympic quality shooting, there's absolutely no reason why you can't use range brass. The majority of my pistol brass is mixed range brass. Just be sure there are no really bad bulges and splits, then load it up.
 
#7 ·
I pickup mostly RP once fired brass in .308, 9mm, .38special, .30-06'. Since the ammo buyout, range brass out in Oregon is getting mighty scarce. I too have heard the warning of using this brass and inspect all cases for any problems. In 36yrs I have found some really good stuff.
 
#9 ·
IMO you had better get what you can while you can.........clean it up and look it over.
 
#12 ·
Thanks for the input. Maybe I should reconsider...

kevin
If you buy new brass, load it up and shoot it, do you throw it away because it's been used? If I can reload it, I'll shoot it! It doesn't matter how many times it's been loaded so long as there are no cracks, splits, bulges, or dings that the resizing die can't work out.
 
#14 ·
With pistol range brass a simple inspection will show you whether it is heavily used or just once fired. If you see a guy or gal come to the range with new ammo and leaves the brass on the ground or bench then scoop it up. But.....

Be aware that there are steel and aluminum cased ammo out there that you can not reload. Also some ammo uses Berdan primers that are hard to remove (need special tools to pry them out of the cases) and are hard to find as new primers. Also don't reuse any bulged brass from semi-auto's with insufficient support over the feed ramp. Blown out brass may be unsafe.

With rifle brass it may be the unseen that makes the brass unsafe. It is possible that the primer pockets are enlarged from excessive reloading and/or excessive pressures. The brass could be out of a gun with excessive head space and badly stretched. I would use range rifle brass if it looks to be once fired or I observed it as being new, fired, and left on the range. But I would inspect every case. My son-in-law buys surplus loaded ammo (new ex-military). If it is not Berdan primed and not too beat up I salvage it and reload it. The Greek ammo as sold by CMP is excellent for reloading. But in general, rifle range brass is more risky to reload. Some guns like the Hakim literally rip at the the rim making it entirely unusable for reloading. H&K rifles can also be hard on brass. Guns with gas adjustment adjusted wrong can be very hard on brass (extractor attempts to pull the case out of the chamber when the gas pressure is too high and the case grabs at the chamber walls too hard, stretching and distorting the case and rim).

LDBennett
 
#15 ·
I've reloaded some of my brass several times for the pistols and never had any problems. Of course I inspect each case when I deprime them. Any cracks or anythign that looks wrong or different, I toss into the recycle buckets. As far as rifle rounds go, we pick up whatever we can (after we shoot) and load the cases that have no defects. Any doubts, they go to the recycle bucket.
 
#16 ·
Several hundred rounds of the brass I'm processing came form my club range, which is used by local LEO's for training, practice and quals.
All once fired stuff in great shape, .45, .40 and 5.56.
I'd be foolish to pass it up.
 
#18 ·
Yup, I use a lot of range pickup brass too. Mostly just for my range/plinking ammo.
As others have stated, you need to do the job of inspecting them but it's not that much harder than inspecting brand new brass. (I've been seeing more and more boo-boos in new brass too, regardless of brand.)

About the only ones that I haven't used for reloading yet are the Glock .40s...many of the local law enforcement guys are shooting that combo. I'm still saving them though. I must have two 5qt pails full of that stuff by now. If I ever do need a big stock of .40 brass, I just need to invest in one of the bulge buster setups.


Just to keep our local public range clean I pick up the steel and aluminum stuff too. It goes straight into the recycle buckets.
 
#20 · (Edited)
Most of the time no one knows if brass has once fired or ten times fired. I bought 150 lb of unsorted brass from an indoor pistol range and a lot of it has obviously been fired more that once. I can tell because some of it has finger nail polish around the primer pocket.

So far I have looked at several thousand cases and have not found even one that was cracked or split. The range is used by several local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies so I feel sure that the vast majority of the brass is once fired. However, there are a lot of guys like me that reload and shoot there so some of it is fired many times.
 
#21 ·
even though some might be more than once fired, do you only reload it once and throw it away? I reload the same brass over and over; like said, proper case inspection will weed out those that are unsafe. Rifle brass from gas guns should be heavily scrutinized but low pressure pistol rounds can be safely reloaded many many times.

Even glock .40, I load a ton of it but use redding's GRx push through die to take care of that.

Remember that the brass is the weak link in the reloading component circle but range brass overall is perfectly good to use.
 
#22 ·
By closely inspecting the brass you can tell which ones have been shot more then once.

Also, get all the brass you can find because the ones you don't need you can trade at a gun show, and the rest you can turn in for recycling and get a little cash so you can go buy more reloading components with.
 
#23 ·
Note that some ranges have a rule that any empties (brass or shotgun hulls) that touch the ground or floor are instantly theirs. Before you start scrounging in the dirt or the range floor, know the rules.

Having said that I will argue with any range employee that claims my own brass that hit the ground is the range's. Other's brass or hulls left behind, I can see their point, but not mine. Fortunately, I have not recently been to one of those ranges so the point is moot for me but what about your range?

LDBennett
 
#24 ·
Good point, LD. I have tried several brass catchers, but none have worked so far, for all my pistols. I try to pick up what I shoot, but there is always some loss. So I pick up all that I can reload.
 
#25 ·
Note that some ranges have a rule that any empties (brass or shotgun hulls) that touch the ground or floor are instantly theirs. Before you start scrounging in the dirt or the range floor, know the rules.

Having said that I will argue with any range employee that claims my own brass that hit the ground is the range's. Other's brass or hulls left behind, I can see their point, but not mine. Fortunately, I have not recently been to one of those ranges so the point is moot for me but what about your range?

LDBennett
I mostly shoot in the desert. Our local indoor range lets you pick your own brass up. Usually when I go in I will be courteous to the other shooters and when they see me picking my brass up they will usually offer me theirs. One time I had several guys giving me brass all at once and it was all once fired.
 
#26 ·
Carver:

I have used the "Catch-All" brass catcher that fits on my shooting hand. It works about 90% of the time. One gun I have throws the brass to the other side of the gun and it will not, of course, work on that gun. I've had it for over 15 years (maybe 20??) and except for adding a few ty-wraps to hold the net to the frame it has been near perfect. I do not know if it is even made anymore(???).

I have tried the ones that snap onto my AR but they don't work all that well and that leaves many other of my semi-autos without a brass catcher. I also made one out of a fishing net stuck on a photo light stand but it was too hard to get it close enough to the ejection port of most guns. But the "CTK-Catcher" works perfectly. It sits on the bench along side the rifle. It is as big as a fishing net and is weighted. It too is about 90% on most guns but some throw the brass too far forward for the catcher to work but only a couple of my guns do that. It is a direct sales device as best as I can tell (??).

Catching brass is better than scrounging around on the ground trying to find it in the grass or in the sand.

LDBennett
 
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